Assistant BLO dies in sleep amid mounting work pressure; eight BLO deaths reported in UP so far

An assistant Booth Level Officer (BLO) Arvind Kumar (40), deployed on SIR duty in Sambhal, died in his sleep early Monday morning. At around 4 am, his wife, Pratibha, went to wake him but found no response despite repeated attempts. Fearing the worst, the family rushed him to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Arvind Kumar’s brother-in-law and colleague Lal Singh said he had been under intense pressure due to his SIR-related duties in Amroha’s Fayyaz Nagar area. “There was a lot of urgency and workload. He was stressed,” he said.

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Lal Singh added that although the Election Commission later extended the SIR deadline, “If they had done this earlier, incidents like this could have been prevented.”

With Arvind’s death, the number of BLOs who have died during the ongoing Special Summary Revision (SIR) exercise in the state has risen to eight.

Earlier, three BLOs reportedly committed suicide, three suffered heart attacks, and one died due to a brain hemorrhage.

In the Banda district, more than 20 BLOs, who completed over 90% of their SIR work, have been felicitated. Meanwhile, salaries of 67 BLOs accused of negligence have been withheld, and 202 BLOs have been issued show-cause notices.